Sandlund, Erica

Abstract [en]

Performance appraisal interviews are becoming an increasingly important tool for human resources management in organizations. In a corpus of performance appraisal interviews recorded in three different organizations, and using conversation analysis, I examine sequences in which gender is made relevant (or not made relevant) in the context of discussing work-related stress or work-life balance. In addition, I contrast the interaction data with findings from an interview study with participants, and consider the gap between gendered accounts in the interviews conducted by researchers and the displayed orientations to gendered matters in the naturalistic performance appraisal interviews. The study draws on conversation analytic work on qualitative interviews in the social sciences, work on the gendered notion of the ‘ideal worker’ in contemporary organizations, and studies on performance appraisal interviews as situated action.